Whether you serve in a small town or a big city, the challenges of effectively serving your community get tougher and more complicated every day. But you don't have to do it alone.

As members of the Illinois Municipal League, we have an invaluable source of information and technical assistance — as well as a powerful legislative advocate — here in Illinois. And at the national level, we have the National League of Cities (NLC), America's largest and most representative organization serving municipal leaders to assist us.

NLC provides ALL elected and appointed municipal leaders — from communities of ALL sizes — the opportunity to share experiences about governing, to discover practical ideas and programs, and to build leadership skills.

As members of the NLC Board of Directors, we can tell you with confidence that we have personally and professionally benefitted from the opportunities offered by NLC. What's more, our municipalities have gained enormously.

With NLC membership, we can tap into a network of thousands of other local officials across the country, each of whom face the same kinds of issues we deal with every day. We save time and money by learning from NLC how other communities are solving problems. Through national conferences and regional seminars, guidebooks, research, and a variety of information services, NLC helps us find solutions fast, without having to "reinvent the wheel."

NLC's membership reflects a rich mix of municipalities of all sizes. Seventy-five percent of NLC's 1,400 member communities have populations under 50,000 — and of those, one-third have populations under 10,000. This diversity is NLC's greatest asset, and small cities, towns and villages pay a vital role in the organization.

NLC is our voice in Washington

While our state league represents our interests in the state capitol, the National League of Cities gives us the powder to make a difference beyond the boundaries of our own backyard. As NLC members, we gain an opportunity to actively shape policies that safeguard the rights and advance the interests of municipal government as a whole, well into the future.

NLC members determine which issues affecting cities and towns deserve national legislative attention — and the best way to ensure that issues important to our communities are included on that agenda is to become a direct member and participate.

Whether the goal is enhancing public safety . . . reducing the burden of existing unfunded federal mandates . . . reforming the nation's welfare system ... or reducing the federal deficit . . . NLC is already working on our behalf, vigorously advocating our priorities in the nation's capital. Still, the success of NLC's advocacy efforts depends on us. We can't expect to benefit unless we support NLC through our participation.

Join the NLC network TODAY

If your community already belongs to the National League of Cities as a direct member, we encourage you to continue playing an active role in the programs offered by NLC and to share those experiences with your colleagues and your constituents.

If your community is not a direct member of NLC, please take the initiative and join.

Call the NLC Membership Office at (202) 626-3190 to request a membership kit. Then put NLC membership on your next council meeting agenda — and make the decision to join. It's one of the smartest investments you can make in your community's future.

The Benefits of NLC Membership

National League of Cities dues are scaled according to population. Direct membership in NLC includes:

• Reduced registration fees for the annual Congress of Cities and Exposition, the Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C., and leadership training events

• Free inquiry and online research assistance from NLC's Municipal Reference Service for information on specific ordinances and examples of programs at work

• Free copies of Nations Cities Weekly newspaper and reduced rates on other NLC publications

• Opportunities to participate in NLC constituency groups and leadership committees such as Women in Municipal Government and the Small Cities Council

• Full voting rights and leadership opportunities in elective offices, task forces and policy steering committees •

Page 24 / Illinois Municipal Review / May 1996